Spinning Waco

Either the Waco police are lying or the eyewitnesses are. Apparently, a deliberate disinformation campaign began about 45 minutes after the deadly biker massacre in the Twin Peaks restaurant parking lot in Waco on May 17. One must use the word “apparently” because that is how disinformation works.

Three separate narratives describe what happened that day: The official police version which has been most widely parroted by the press; the Cossacks version; and the strikingly consistent version told by everybody else including members of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club.

Police Version

The police version has been riddled with inconsistencies and has had the further disadvantage of being mostly told by self righteous and ill informed Sergeant W. Patrick Swanton. The Waco Tribune-Herald might think Swanton did a hell of a job but nobody else did. According to Swanton everybody who was arrested was a “motorcycle gang member.” They were “not from Waco” and the Waco police there “did not play.” The specifics – the bare facts of the police version – changed constantly and confusingly day by day. Every policeman, every public official, every lawyer, particularly Tribune-Herald editor Steve Boggs, seems to be a gullible police groupie.

It should have been obvious to anyone who has ever covered a biker case that the real story in Waco was the effort going into controlling the narrative. The official narrative of Waco has always been that drug addled, well armed, biker sociopaths came to Waco to rumble in a shopping mall so they could transform Waco from a gentle Mayberry into a Darwinian free market of drugs and sex slaves and Waco fought back. Waco made a stand, damnit. Hooray for Waco!

The official Waco narrative is very appealing to people who know the world mostly from the dancing shadows on a large screen on one of their living room walls. From the beginning there has been a segment of the public that has thought that the nine dead were not enough and that everyone on a Harley who needs a shave should be locked up.

From the beginning, Waco has been about the release of specific information and the concealment of other information by local, state and federal officials. It has been about defining reality and the exemplary moment of that official definition of what people are allowed to think and what questions the press are allowed to ask came when Swanton took CNN anchor Ashleigh Banfield to task for citing a “law enforcement source,” that four of the dead had been killed by police “in a hail of bullets.”

Latest Revision

The latest revision to what people are officially allowed to think and report about the Twin Peaks Massacre came last Friday when Swanton’s boss, Chief Brent Stroman, told reporters that there were only 16 police officers on scene who fired a total of 12 rounds from M4 rifles. Police recovered 44 shell casings and 475 weapons including “weighted weapons” and “tomahawks” and police seized 130 motorcycles and 91 cars and trucks . Fifty-two of the motorcycles and 47 other vehicles have been released to their owners. According to Stroman, everybody who was arrested deserved it.

Stroman said, “We did not fire indiscriminately into the crowd. Our officers were restrained.”

The same day, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety – which includes the Texas Rangers and other state police – announced, “no shots were fired by DPS officers.”

Cossacks Version

About the time Swanton disappeared a second version of what happened that day began to make headlines – the Cossacks version. The day after the shootout, a Cossack named Scott “Scoot” Keon spoke to the Palestine, Texas City Council. Keon told the local politicians that his club is law abiding. “On our side, we are not a gang,” he said. “We are an organization that is Texas-wide. None of us are one-percenters.”

He blamed the Bandidos for the massacre. “There are things that they (the Bandidos) are involved in that we have no interest in,” he said. “We are businessmen, family men, and veterans and are in no way affiliated with them. We won’t be pressured into paying them dues, and that’s where their anger is coming from. Just because other clubs have given in, doesn’t mean we are going to.”

During the following week, an unidentified Cossack gave multiple interviews to a freelance writer named Tim Madigan who published what the Cossack told him. The Aging Rebel believes that Cossack was a man who identifies himself on his Facebook page as Cmc Paul. Paul has been very outspoken about the Bandidos. On a discussion site he stated, “We don’t pay anything to the Bandidos and that is why they don’t like us. We refuse to be lumped in with the ‘gangs’ (clubs) and pay to do something that we have the right to do, ride our motorcycles and have our own identity as an MC. There are still a few of us MCs that understand what this life is about and it isn’t crime or causing trouble. It’s truly about the ride and brothers.”

Madigan sold his story to the Washington Post which subsequently reported that Owen “Big O” Reeves, who along with John “Voodoo” Arnold was responsible for the Cossacks presence at the Twin Peaks, had been invited to the restaurant by the Bandidos for a sort of peace powwow. According to the Post, “It was a setup from start to finish.” The Post did not explain how its source managed to avoid arrest.

The Witnesses Version

Within the last week, as more of the accused have been released from jail, a third version of events has begun to emerge. It portrays the Twin Peaks Massacre as a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives operation gone horribly wrong. Multiple eyewitnesses, speaking on condition of anonymity because they believe what they know places them in danger from the police, portray the Cossacks as an easy club for ATF agents to infiltrate and exploit. “The Cossacks are known to hand out patches to people without prospecting, short prospecting periods, some as little as a week, or proper background investigation to bolster their numbers. That obviously makes them pretty easy to infiltrate,” one source said. “They’re right up there with the Iron Order, and take many pictures similar to the Iron Order style. And like the IO, they seem to have no problem patching in cops and corrections officers.”

Multiple sources who The Aging Rebel believes to be credible have independently stated that they saw two Cossacks take off their cuts and put on police windbreakers and balaclavas. The Aging Rebel has confirmed that ATF agents were at the Twin Peaks before and after the shooting occurred. And numerous news outlets have reported that multiple eyewitnesses heard two or three pistol shots which were then followed by automatic weapons fire. Other sources have stated that at least two and possibly more confidential informants working under contract for the ATF were arrested and quietly released that night.

The world’s news outlets have largely ignored this clash of narratives. As far as most reporters and editors are concerned, the Waco story is yesterday’s news. It will probably be remembered as a spectacular biker brawl. The news cycle is too rushed to look much deeper than that.

67 Responses to “Spinning Waco”

‘Chief Brent Stroman, told reporters that there were only 16 police officers on scene who fired a total of 12 rounds from M4 rifles. Police recovered 44 shell casings..’

Stroman said his cops responded with only fired 12 shots.
Stroman said, “We did not fire indiscriminately into the crowd. Our officers were restrained.”

How does Stroman explain how his officers could show such remarkable restraint to allow 32 rounds to be fired (not counting spent shell casings in revolvers) from multiple shooters, and have shooters targeting police – yet their response was only 12 shots fired?

“All due respect to the Cossacks. When you get big fast the ATF shows up like ants at a picnic.”

With all due respect to you Rebel………

When you get big fast it also shows you are dumb asses.
And I have zero respect for The “cocksacks” from anything I’ve seen. They are looking more like the IO everyday.

ESPECIALLY the crying to city councils and news media — we are not 1%, we are family guys, etc, etc, etc.
Bunch of girlies and wannabes from where I’m seeing it. They obviously just do not get it. Too many dopes watching too much silly stuff like SOA.

Shit them Black Widows have it together more, lol. At least they didn’t have pigs in their club & they stuck together no matter what!

Every time the media makes something a FAD…it gets diluted and screwed up. Look at bikes & tats as just 2 examples.

Use to be things like that had meaning instead of just being another FAD the masses “mindlessly” gooble up like swine at the trough.

@ LMAO “COVETED”? NO! Respected & Appreciated? Yer damn straight! This is the only place to get facts & truth about what is happening these days. Rebel is
doing what all journalists SHOULD be doing. Posting FACTS & not PIG-SPEAK.
Do you pee yourself when your laughing your ass off? Bet you do. You have
that Urine Odor about you.

Also I’m not sure what you think is stupid. I have been at this journalistic niche for awhile. I don’t have their paystubs but I am pretty sure there were ATF UCs or CIs in the Cossacks. All due respect to the Cossacks. When you get big fast the ATF shows up like ants at a picnic.

If you think I am in error, why don’t you email me and tell me what I am getting wrong? Or do you just think if you are obnoxious enough long enough the force of your magnetic personality and rapier like wit will discredit me?

This is very stupid. I am shocked that the coveted “aging rebel” would post garbage like this. You take a line from one comment on Facebook and twist and contort it to sell more stories. Both Cossacks that you mention are still in jail you idiot. I don’t see where this CMC PAUL has been outspoken for one comment standing up for the beliefs of his club. Shame on you.

Because justice of the peace Peterson is a “retired” Texas DPS agent making the crossover from Executive Branch of government to Judicial Branch agent, he himself violated both the U.S. and State of Texas constitutional Law requirement of “Separation Of Governmental Powers” inherent in those law documents. As a double-dipping judge, he receives a judicial salary at the same time he receives an executive branch pension. As long as he receives the pig-pension, he’s still a pig wearing judicial robes.

He may have received a phone call saying if he wants to “continue” receiving the pension payments, impose the high bail amounts to ” send a message”. Or he may be someone who actually believes the government can do no wrong, and didn’t follow “high commands” orders.

Agency narc is found out and gives his con-padres the “help me” signal by pulling out a weapon. His con padres start executing their initial intended targets, all in the name of the law , for the safety of the public.

I smell a rat.

What happened to the other 3900+ rounds that were initially reported as being fired? Anyone who listens or believes any of the press is a tabloid fool. If they lie initially, their credibility is lost forever. Where are the autopsy and ballistic reports? Where are the unaltered video’s? Where are the dash cams? where are the witness testimony’s. If these people are arrested their attorneys are allowed to examine and question all evidence associated with their clients.

So, according to the former judge/federal prosecutor in the video (thanks much XYZ), the justice of the peace who signed the ‘fill in the blank warrants’ has no legal education, or at the very least – is not a lawyer. Jesus Christ on a bicycle – this gets more unreal as it unfolds.
Respects, and Ride Free,
-WMB

The Cossacks version is very steady. and is pretty much inline with everything the cops have said. Credible eyewitnesses? more like let’s bash the Cossacks. The Cossacks claim they are not 1%ers Claim they are law biding citizens. So what would it matter if cops were in it or not? Only criminals have to worry about cops seeing criminal activity, so I question the legitimacy of your witnesses all they talked about is the Cossacks not what happen smells fishy. Violent gangs just because they ride do not deserved to be called bikers and belong in jail. The 99% needs to wake up